The United Nations Association of Tanzania in collaboration with the United Nations in Tanzania, Office of the Resident Coordinator is providing you an opportunity to ask and have your questions answered by the Resident Coordinator.

Responses will be posted on a weekly basis, with the latest ontop of the list.

Questions and Answers

What does the United Nations feel is the most pressing governance issue for the next Government to address and how will you support those efforts?

It is up to Tanzanian people and their government to prioritize what are the most pressing issues for the next Government, including in governance. From the vantage point of the UN, the move from Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals suggests that governance and inclusiveness will become more important topics for the development agenda at global level, and Tanzania has been an important player in these processes and would address this new goal proactively as it has done other international development goals. As such, support to ensure that equity and the necessary opportunities for all Tanzania citizens are made available so that everyone can reach their full potential would be a very important governance issue.

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What is the view of the United Nations in Tanzania on the engagement of civil society in the national electoral process and will there be support for CSO led activities in the 2015 General Elections?

The UN fully supports inclusive and democratic governance processes. As part of this work, UNDP, UNESCO and UN Women, with donor support and working closely with government and electoral management bodies is providing some support to activities that engage civil society. This is being done through the electoral commissions in the mainland and Zanzibar. At the same time, activities to encourage women to vote and to stand for election are being carried out. This is complemented by the use of community radios to promote civic education, a process by which the public learns about their rights as citizens and are encouraged to peacefully participate in political activities.

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What has the United Nations in Tanzania done to assist the country in coping with the sudden influx of refugees from Burundi?

The UN humanitarian community working with government and international as well as national NGOs has been playing a leader role in this refugee response. Under the coordination of UNHCR, many UN agencies have been providing transport, protection services, shelter, medicines, food, water and hygiene services for close to 70,000 men, women and children refugees. Two real challenges that the UN family had to address, and did so successfully, was to stop a cholera outbreak and to transport refugees from Kagunga to Nyarugusu camp. Several million dollars have also been raised to support the refugees from donor agencies that provide humanitarian support.

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How come the UN easily interferes in the political affairs of particular countries yet finds it difficult to enforce its decisions on the economic policies of the same countries?

The Resident Coordinator is responsible for the coordination of operational activities of development and humanitarian agencies of the UN system in Tanzania. Our task is to advocate and promote the Millennium Development Goals and the upcoming Sustainable Development Goals currently being discussed and which will start in January 2016. Tanzania as a sovereign member state of the UN subscribes to these goals and we seek to assist the government and the people of Tanzania to achieve them. The political work of the UN is led by the Department of Political Affairs which is headquartered in New York and which receives its guidance from member states through different bodies such as the General Assembly and the Security Council.

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In what ways does the UN support the Tanzanian economy?

The UN, through several agencies including UNDP, ILO, ITC and UNCTAD support policy and capacity development of government institutions to formulate economic policies that promote human development and inclusive and equitable growth. Increasingly the focus is on support for the formulation of the next Five Year Development Plan so that it can address the new Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, more attention is being paid to the topic of employment opportunities for young women and men. Activities are also carried out at community level to promote agricultural productivity and new jobs in the industrial and service sectors.

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What is the UN doing to improve education in Tanzania?

The UN in Tanzania is keen to improve the quality and quantity of education for its citizens. Several UN agencies such as UNICEF and WFP are working hard to ensure boys and girls attend school and have the necessary nutrition so they can learn well. Other agencies such as UNESCO and ILO are working in educational policy and on vocational and entrepreneurship so that Tanzanians have the skills necessary in the changing labour market of today’s globally integrated economies.

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This also responds to: Education is both quantity and quality. What is the UN doing to improve the quality of education in Tanzania which has some impact in youth employment?

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What are the challenges you are facing by being a UN Resident Coordinator?

The biggest challenges relate to understanding the development needs of Tanzania and how the UN can best serve the men, women and children of the country. Tanzania is changing fast but so is the world and all countries must work hard to capitalize on opportunities while protecting its citizens from harm. For example, Tanzania has opened up to the world economy but it must address challenges related to poaching or communicable diseases. As RC I have the whole family of UN agencies, donor community and government supporting our work, with each UN agency having its unique skills and competencies. Together working as One UN we believe we can help Tanzania achieve its development goals.

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Does the UN offer an IT related internships for Tanzanian students studying abroad when they return home, and what are the requirements for one to be qualifies?

Occasionally the UN offers internships and these are advertised in universities and educational institutions. These internships are for work in UN offices in Tanzania. The specific requirements are specific in the advertisements.

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Do you think the United Nation in Tanzania is doing enough when it comes to empowering young people? What has been the success of United Nations in Tanzania on the issue of youth empowerment?

The UN is working closely with all development partners in the international community and with government to ensure Youth are empowered to contribute to the peace and development of Tanzania. As part of its work, the UN is focusing on five major areas of work and many of our projects under our UNDAP (UN Development Assistance Plan 2011-16) address these. They are: Employment and Entrepreneurship; Protection of Rights and Civic Engagement; Political Inclusion; Education; and Health.

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I would like to know why most of the regions in Tanzania do not have opportunities as in Dar es salaam and how can you help far reaching of projects?

The UN is aware of the great variation in needs and challenges across regions of the country and we aim to achieve equity and equality between regions, between men and women and between urban and rural areas. For this reason, in the recent past an effort is being made to sub-nationalize the UN’s Delivering as One approach so that unique characteristics of different regions can be addressed in the UN’s policy and programming. This has enabled us to develop new project such as on Female Genital Mutilation, Killing of People with Albinism and Youth Employment that are specifically designed for certain regions. Our goal in the UN is to work with the citizens of the country and for the people at large, and that means getting to know their unique challenges and opportunities.

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What was the greatest success during the phase of implementation of the MDGs globally?

The biggest success has been the attention by both programme countries and donors given to eight (8) very specific, quantifiable and to some extent achievement goals. This helped ensure a common agenda at global level to help address the most pressing development challenges facing the poor and vulnerable around the world. Extra aid resources were raised and government paid greater attention to reduce poverty, reduce child mortality and project the environment, among other goals.

Significantly, what has been learnt from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is now being used to ensure the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will run from 2016 to 2030 achieve the goal of eradicating absolute poverty.

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What is "Delivering as One"?

The Delivering as One reform involves streamlining programs, focusing on areas where the UN can have an impact, reducing duplication of effort, and making more effective use of human and financial resources. As other pilot countries, UN Tanzania is continuously testing new working methods and tools.

Delivering as One involves a bottom-up approach to reform: evidence from change in the field is influencing the agenda and the political process at UN Headquarters. The support of UN Member States is crucial to ensure that best practices from the pilots are effectively applied as an operational standard across the world.